‘Tornado Hunters’ to debut on CMT Canada web, then TV; fans to shape pilot

REGINA – A Saskatchewan storm chaser and his team are getting their own TV show.

“Tornado Hunters” starring Greg Johnson, Chris Chittick and Ricky Forbes is to debut first on the web, then on TV.

Produced by Saloon Media and developed with the participation of the Bell Fund, five episodes for the web will be the launching pad for the official broadcast pilot set to air on CMT at a later date.

The web episodes start Aug. 18, and at the same time CMT.ca will host an interactive campaign to provide input, which will be used to shape the pilot.

Johnson, who is from Saskatchewan, says there are “terrifying” moments when a tornado is on the ground.

He says although he’s done it for many, many years, it never gets boring.

“You don’t know, maybe you just watched somebody lose their life, maybe somebody’s lost their home,” Johnson says. “These are terrifying moments and that will never get old.”

Chittick, who is American, starred in the series “Storm Chasers” and has 15 years and more than 400 tornadoes on his resume. He is the videographer and chief interpreter of tracking storm data.

Forbes, who is also from Saskatchewan, is responsible for the team’s online presence.

(CJME, The Canadian Press)